The Heavenbound Dilemma
by VocaTouhou
Summary: Rin, an antisocial and professional computer hacker, is tasked with solving the mystery of the mass murdered that occurred aboard the "Heavenbound" generation spaceship. She bonds with the only entity left aboard, a ditsy artificial intelligence named *IA. But the ship holds dark secrets, some of which may shatter the only relationship Rin has managed to maintain...implied Rin/IA.
1. Step 1: Contact

**Dearest Starryeyedrin, your birthday twoshot has become a multi-chapter story XD Part of the reason why this was taking so long to get up is I had no idea how to divide it. So, because it was taking a while and I didn't want to cram a bunch of information into two parts, you get a multi-chapter story with part 1 today~ So sorry if it's not want I originally promised, but I suppose you could say the story is in control right now, not me! ^^"**

**Anyway, for any other readers, this story is a sci-fi/murder mystery with a few twists and yuri undertones between Rin and IA/Aria. It is based on the _incredible_ indie game Analogue: A Hate Story (one of the best video game stories I have ever seen in my life, I would recommend this a million times if I could). The base plotline is similar, but I've tweaked and changed some key elements around so the story is different-including the fate of the characters. ALSO, this is the kind of story that cautious readers will benefit from, as I hide foreshadowing in the dialogue. The ending will also be rather subjective, since it's up to the reader to decide who the true "villain" of the story is. Also, this is rated T, as the story gets a bit dark towards the end. Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid or any Crypton-afflicted characters**

_Date: XXXXX_

_Subject: Re: Re: "Heavenbound" Mission_

_Miss Kagamine,_

_We have successfully contacted the database in the "Heavenbound" generation spaceship, and will be connecting your monitor to it shortly. As you know, this particular ship went missing nearly a century ago and was only discovered recently, drifting freely in space near the Alpha Crux star. The ship itself was carrying two royal families, the Planetes and the Altos, but not much is known of them beside the fact they all mysteriously died aboard and never reached their final destination. The ship was completely sterile, so the possibility of a killer virus has been ruled out. In addition, it appears to be in perfect shape and a scan of the interior shows no sign of struggle. So, it is your job to hack into the database, learn as much as you can about the ship's occupants, and discover exactly what went wrong that resulted in the mass death. If possible, seek the help of *Lapis, the artificial intelligence and main security guard of the ship. Best of luck._

"Alright, let's make this quick." Rin grumbled, dragging the email to the trash. She leaned back in her chair and munched on a few sticks of Pocky, awaiting for the large monitor in front of her to establish a connection with the ship. In a generation heavily ruled by cyberspace and intergalactic exploration, being an employed hacker like Rin was a coveted position. She'd done plenty of missions similar to this; hacking into databases, combing through files and letters, and ultimately solving unexplained mysteries or catching cyber-thieves. With all the intergalactic colonies established and occasional chaos on her own planet Earth, her job was never a boring one.

_"Connection successfully made!" _The monitor announced, and the screen turned black, filling up with green blocks of code and HTML. Rin sat forward, cracking her knuckles eagerly. To most it was a bunch of gibberish, but to Rin it was just another language. It was like a puzzle to her, dying to be solved. Move this over here, change the letter in that code…Rin was well on her way within minutes. Unsurprisingly, however, the security on the ship was strong and Rin began trouble navigating through the chains of letters and numbers. Just when she decided to give it a break, the screen suddenly rearranged itself and an empty box popped up.

_"A password is needed to access this area." _The voice informed her.

"Dammit." She cursed under her breath. Usually getting around passwords was no trouble for her, but this database was a particularly pesky one: one incorrect move could send her right back to where she started.

"I suppose I could contact headquarters." She mused. But that would require talking to someone, and Rin wasn't sure it was worth it. In fact, she'd never had friends, or a boyfriend, but it never really bothered her. As an anti-social, she excelled at hacking because it didn't involve much communication with others;at least, most of the time.

_"Message alert!" _The monitor suddenly chirped as a small blue dot began blinking in the corner of the screen. _"AI Unit 2 wishes to speak with you! Do you accept? Audio will be enabled upon acceptance."_

"AI Unit 2?" Rin muttered. She remembered the mention of an AI in her mission email. There was a pretty good chance it might have some ideas about the password, _if _she could get it to cooperate. The last artificial intelligence she communicated with spoke in broken phrases, and had trouble understanding her commands. With a sigh, she moved the mouse over the blue dot and clicked it. Almost immediately, the screen turned completely white. Rin stared at the blank screen intently, waiting for something to show up. Almost immediately, a single line of code began rapidly filling into the screen. Rin squinted, scanning the string of letters, and froze when she found a single, coherent word amidst the coding: "help". Before she could even press a key, however, the code vanished and the screen became blank again. Rin shifted a bit, feeling a bit uneasy.

_"This is getting weird._" She thought, considering disconnecting herself from the database. But she stopped herself, knowing that doing so would result in the failure of her mission. Suddenly, a voice was heard.

"Um…hello?" It was small, and robotic, but clear. "Human? Are you there?"

"Who's this?" Rin questioned, fingers instantly brushing the power button in case it was something hostile.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me! Hold on." Nearly an instant later, a girl appeared on the screen in front of Rin. Rin drew back, impressed that the AI's creator had put so much detail into her design. Her outfit consisted of black and pink, her eyes were a light shade of torquoise, and her long white hair flowed just to her waist. To anyone, she could easily pass as a human.

"Oh! I can see you now!" The girl suddenly explained, grinning broadly. "Your eyes are so pretty! Are they real, or are you wearing blue contact lens?"

"Who are you?" Rin asked warily, ignoring the question. The AI blinked for a moment, then resumed her smile.

"My name is *IA. I'm a resident aboard this ship!" She replied.

"Wait, I thought all the residents of this ship were dead?" Rin questioned. Although she was rather suspicious of this girl being an AI: her speech ability and appearance was unlike anything Rin had encountered before in an AI. Another pause. Her figure flickered for a moment before *IA leaned in.

"Oh, of course, I forgot to mention," She laughed apologetically. "I'm not a human, I'm an artificial intelligence. In specific, I'm the security AI for this ship."

"Do you also go by *Lapis?" Rin asked, putting her suspicion aside for now.

"I suppose you can call me that, if you want." *IA replied slowly, her voice giving out into static for a moment. She shook her head, leaning closer to the screen eagerly. "But I want to know more about you! I haven't spoken to anyone for _ages_, it's so nice to be in contact again!" Rin fought the urge to cringe. She hated how chatty this particular AI was, even if she was impressed by her capability to communicate.

"I don't like talking." Rin replied dully. "Listen, I'm doing this mission because I like to keep human contact-or any contact-to the minimum. Now, if you'd like to help me-"

"But of course!" *IA replied eagerly, nodding her head. "I'm sorry, I tend to speak before I think. It's just that it's _so_ nice to be able to speak again, it's been so lonely and-oh, dear, I'm doing it again. I'm sorry, I'm probably annoying you. Maybe I should just go." Her image flickered off and Rin was left with a blank screen.

"H-hey, wait!" Rin cried out, suddenly flustered with losing her only hope to getting the password. "I-I need your help with something!"

"What?" *IA appeared back on screen, head tilted curiously.

"Do you know the password to the central database?"

"Oh, of course I do!" *IA nodded. "Commander Leon kept it pretty well hidden, though. I think I was-" Her voice faded into static for a moment. "Er, am, the only one who knows it!"

"I need to get through to the central database as part of my mission." Rin explained.

"I need to access the old entries of the ship's residents."

"Then the password won't help you much." *IA admitted with a sigh. "Beyond it are a series of tough firewalls. Commander Leon obviously wanted his words to be kept hidden from potential viewers." Her voice grew dark at the last sentence.

"I'm a professional hacker." Rin explained. "I don't think-"

"Wait, you're a girl, _and_ a hacker?" *IA looked both surprised and impressed. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah, that's how I got to the password page in the first place." Rin muttered.

"But even so, a professional hacker like yourself would have trouble with these firewalls." *IA explained. "See, there were a lot of hackers, all male, aboard this ship back when it was still operatin, and they helped the commander design his security."

"So there's no way I can get in?" Rin asked, clenching her fists in frustration.

"Well, there is one way…" *IA trailed.

"Yes?"

"I could help you." She offered in a quiet voice. "Because I'm an AI, I can pass through the firewalls and bring back pieces of data, once you enter the password."

"You'd be willing to do that?" Rin stared incredulously, genuinely surprised at how willing the girl on the screen was to help her. Of course, she wasn't too excited to partner up with the virtual chatterbox; but it was likely the only way she could complete her mission.

"Sure!" *IA nodded eagerly. "I'd like to help you with your mission in any way I can. I haven't spoken to someone in a hundred years, you know." She beamed broadly at Rin. "The fact you're speaking with me right now means so much to me!"

"Great." Rin murmured, uncomfortable at how casual the AI had become with her.

"Awesome! I'll try my best!" *IA promised, giving a salute. Rin let her gaze drop, flustered at the girl's devotion to her cause.

"Um, so…how about that password." She asked softly, looking back up to her.

"Oh. Password. Right." *IA mused. She disappeared a moment later.

"*IA?" Rin questioned, feeling a bit of panic that the AI had decided to leave her.

"Ariaplanetes." *IA's voice informed her.

"What?"

"Ariaplanetes. That's the password." The empty box from before appeared in front of her.

"Oh. Right." Rin keyed it in, and heard a distinct unlocking sound. The screen was white for a few more moments, before a few boxes of blue, readable text appeared. A little blue dot at the bottom also showed up.

"Here's what I've got to start." *IA explained to Rin. "I turned into coherent text for you. They're a few entries about Commander Leon by some of the passengers, which I assume is what you're look for. Oh, and if you want to speak with me face to face, just click the blue dot on the bottom of the screen. Likewise, if I want to talk to you, I'll make it light up."

"Got it." Rin replied, opening up the files and preparing to read. She paused when it occurred to her that she had yet to mention exactly what her mission was-discover the death of the ship's residents-to her assistant. She moved her mouse to the blue dot and prepared to click, but stopped herself. That would require further discussion, and the chances of the ditsy robot knowing anything about what probably happened while she was in sleep mode seemed unlikely. Besides, now that she was in the database she no longer needed help, so she saw no reason for telling her her complete motives. Not yet, at least.

**Well, there's part one! For anyone who thinks it's weird that *IA just randomly started helping Rin, it will make more sense once I put up more content ;) Reviews are always appreciated~ Also, I hope everything's ok where you live, Starryeyedrin! (the wildfires and stuff). Hopefully part 1 of this story can cheer you up a bit :)**


	2. Step 2: Bonding

Rin slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes drowsily. She had fallen asleep on her keyboard. She glanced at the clock on the wall, revealing it was 5 AM in the morning. She stifled a yawn, debating whether or not to go back asleep.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" A voice suddenly chimed, causing Rin to jolt up and meet the cheerful gaze of an all-too familiar AI.

"O-oh, you." She breathed, giving a sigh. "How long have you been there?"

"A couple hours?" *IA guessed, giving a shrug. "I was taking a while to get some info, and when I came back you were fast asleep. You looked pretty peaceful, though, so I decided not to wake you up."

"And you were watching the whole time?" Rin mumbled, feeling her face turn red. *IA nodded.

"It's interesting to watch. Sleeping is so odd. I mean, I can go into 'sleep mode' but that's a little different."

"R-right." Rin replied, shaking her head. "Anyway, I'm sorry I fell asleep, usually I can stay up all night for mission like this; I guess I was more tired than I thought. Let's just focus on the entries now."

"Sure thing." *IA answered, though she failed to suppress a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Rin demanded, feeling her face go even redder.

"Oh, nothing," *IA insisted, though Rin could have sworn her own face took on a pixilated pink hue. "You're just really adorable."

The entries the night before hadn't revealed much, mostly consisting of passenger's discussion about the royal wedding of the commander's daughter, and life aboard a generation ship. She had sifted through them in silence, with occasional commentary from her AI sidekick about the passenger who'd written it or the content. Rin was at first annoyed, being used to working in complete silence, but she gradually got used to the company of the girl in the screen. And from what Rin had seen, none of the people sounded suspicious enough to be capable of murder. Still, she knew the entries they'd found only scratched the surface of what the ship really held.

"Anyway, I found a bunch of new entries for us to go over." *IA explained as the screen reverted to it's usual black and green form. "They are by Commander Leon."

"Perfect." Rin smiled, noticing the large piles of data awaiting her on the screen. She started reading, scribbling notes on the Post-its beside the monitor as she read.

"Commander Leon sounds like a real jerk." Rin concluded after the final entry from him. "Forcing his daughter into a marriage with that prince like that."

"I know, right?!" *IA replied,nodding furiously. "Not as bad as Prince Dell himself, though. _He _was a jerk. I'll get those for you next."

"Ok. Just give me a sec, I'm hungry." She laid her pen aside, grabbing her box of Pocky and taking out a few sticks.

"Is that Pocky?" *IA asked, watching with interest as Rin munched.

"Yeah. Have you heard of it?"

"Of course! I've always wanted to try it, but I don't remember-" The screen flickered again, and the AI's sentence was interrupted, drowned into static. Rin didn't think too much of it, though, as it seemed to happen on occasion. She figured it was just a glitch from the ship.

"Er, I don't know what food tastes like. You know, being an artificial intelligence and all." She finally finished.

"Right," Rin replied. "The flavor's kind of hard to explain. It's got a nice crunch, though."

"Hmm." *IA hummed in reply, falling silent for a moment as Rin finished off her snack.

"That doesn't seem like much of a substantial breakfast." She suddenly added as Rin wiped off her chocolate-stained hands.

"Who are you, my mother?" Rin replied, looking at *IA incredulously.

"I just want you to be healthy! So you can perform your best in your mission!" *IA insisted. Rin rolled her eyes.

"Great. An artificial intelligent health counselor. What's next, are you going to do my laundry?" Rin was taken aback when she realized *IA was chuckling again, in short and choppy digital giggles.

"What's so funny?" Rin demanded, flustered by *IA's new habit of laughing at her.

"Nothing's funny," *IA explained when she regained her voice, a large grin on her face. "It's just, I'm so happy to be talking with someone again…especially you. You're awesome!"

"O-oh." Rin replied dumbly, letting her gaze drop from the screen and hoping her face didn't look as warm as it felt. No one had ever called her 'awesome' before. Heck, no one had ever complimented her.

"Let's go back to the entries." Rin muttered with a quick shake of her head.

"Of course!" *IA beamed, disappearing to go fetch more data for her partner. Rin began skimming though the Prince Dell's entries: various letters addressed to his own father talking of the princess he was destined to marry.

"So who's this Aria Planetes girl that keeps showing up?" Rin asked. *IA was silent.

"*IA?" Rin repeated.

"The princess." She said after a moment, seeming to snap out of her daze. "Princess of the Planetes family. Next in line to succeed. That being said, Commander Leon didn't ever intend to die. He had an AI-conscious transfer with him on the ship, so that when his body passed on, his mind could live on in the ship's database and continue to command it."

"An AI-conscious transfer?" The idea didn't sound too outlandish to Rin. She had heard of such technology before, but it was abandoned long ago due to it's cost and often failed result.

"So did he upload his conscious into the database? Is it here somewhere?" Getting a chance to speak with them would definitely shed some light on what Rin was looking for.

"Well…no." *IA muttered, her gaze falling. "That is, he never got the chance." She suddenly looked up with determination. "And it's damn good he didn't! Someone like him should _never_ be granted immortal life." Rin sat back in her seat, surprised by the intense personality the AI was suddenly displayed.

"What's the deal? Was he mean to you or something?" Rin asked.

"Er…that's sort of a subjective question." *IA admitted, calming down and looking offscreen. "Maybe it wasn't his complete fault…I mean, he wanted what was best for the family. Like, he was thinking of the greater good when he forced Aria to marry the prince."

"Huh…" Rin mused, quickly reading an entry of the prince complaining bitterly about the forced marriage. "The prince didn't seem to keen on the idea either."

"He was abusive." *IA added as Rin read on. "Beat the poor girl nearly every day. They weren't even married yet, but he was relentless."

"Poor girl." Rin muttered.

"He didn't like it when she sang." The additional sentence had been so quiet Rin had barely heard it. She stopped reading.

"What?"

"He hated singing." *IA repeated, her voice still low. "Aria loved to sing, but it drove him crazy. He…he honestly would have done anything to get her to stop."

"Anything, huh?" Rin echoed. "Well, this guy certainly doesn't seem above mass murder. I'll have to pay close attention."

"Mass murder?" *IA questioned, her voice full of static.

"Yeah. I guess I forgot to tell you the exact purpose of this mission, but I'm trying to find out why all the residents of your ship died. On that note…you wouldn't know, would you?" Rin usually didn't expect AI's to know what she was looking for, but *IA seemed pretty well-spoken so it was possible.

"No, I don't." She said without missing a beat. "I was probably-well, I was in sleep mode when it all happened. I haven't been activated since we first started talking."

"Ok." Rin shrugged. "I didn't think you would know. Anyway, what-" The beeping of her cellphone interrupted her. She glanced down, her breath catching in her throat when she recognized the caller ID. "Oh, hang on, I should probably get that." She got up and left the room, not wanting *IA to hear the impeding conversation.

"Come back soon!" *IA called after her, and Rin noted the degree of relief in her voice as she scooted out the door.

...

"Ok…yes...I understand…I'm sorry." Rin shut the phone, trying to stop the tears from falling down her face, but they ignored her attempts and began dripping down her cheeks. It wasn't unusual for her boss, Lily, to give her calls like this. Apparently her mission was taking too long, and if she didn't finish it in the next two days she would fire her. She even had the nerve to poke fun at Rin's lack of a spouse, stating that her would-be husband could probably work faster than she did. She re-entered the room with the monitor, instantly regretting the choice when she remembered that there was a curious AI on screen.

"R-Rin!" She called out in alarm at her expression. "Oh my goodness! You look awfully upset, what's wrong?!"

_"Damn robot." _She thought bitterly through the tears, wishing she could just sob by herself like she usually did when she received such calls. She considered shutting off the monitor, but that would require forfeiting the mission and after her "talk" that was _definitely_ not a good idea.

"N-nothing." She replied, despising the way her own voice cracked and broke like it was full of static. She slumped down in the chair, wiping her eyes to try and get back to work.

"Rin…" *IA muttered, her voice enveloped with concern. "I think something's wrong, you don't look well…" Rin bit her bottom lip, feeling a new round of tears coming. She couldn't explain it, but hearing the AI's worried voice made her want to cry more. The moment Rin felt a sob rip from her throat, she buried her face in her arms and wept.

"Oh, Rin…shhh, shhh…please don't cry. It'll be ok..." *IA pleaded. "I…I really wish I could give you a hug. I'm dying to hold you and wipe all those tears away right now. It's moments like this when I hate being stuck in a screen."

"It's hopeless. I'm hopeless. I don't deserve to even be here." Rin sobbed into her arms.

"Don't say that, Rin! You're not hopeless. You're a very beautiful girl with one of the kindest hearts in the world. Don't ever say that!" *IA paused for a moment, watching Rin sadly.

"Rin, can you look at me?" She asked after a moment. Rin just shook her head.

"You don't have to talk right now." *IA insisted in her best soothing voice. "It's ok, you'll be ok. Here...just listen to my voice, alright? I'm going to sing for you."

_"She knows how to sing?" _Rin thought through her sobs. She silenced herself a little so she could listen to the melodic tune, very soft and clearly digital but holding a soothing property:

_In a village in an unknown era,_

_There lived an unknown young girl_

_Known to none, this is her fairy tale_

*IA's voice was full of life and passion as she started, and for a moment Rin could barely tell it was an artificial intelligence singing to her.

_Since the time I was born,_

_I was treated as a demon child_

_As if forsaken, I received punishment_

_I've never had anything to be sad about_

_But into the sunset, I was led away…_

The song was heavy and melancholic, but Rin found it calming to listen to. She wasn't actually aware AI's could sing, and wondered if someone had taught *IA back when there were people on her ship.

_I don't know, I don't know, I don't know a thing,_

_Not even of kindness after a scolding_

_I don't know the feeling of warmth after the rain,_

_Yet I'm truly, truly, truly, truly cold_

_I won't die,_

_I won't die, why is it I won't die?_

_I'm not even dreaming a single dream_

_And so this fairy tale known to none_

_Was sucked up by the sunset, and vanished into air..._

Rin felt herself drifting back off into sleep as she listened to *IA's melancholic song. She was aware that she still had the mission to finish under a new time restraint, but with an artificial intelligence-no, _someone_-trying so hard to make her feel better, a person who actually cared about her and her pathetic existent, it really didn't seem to matter.

**And so ends chapter 2! The song IA was singing is "Six Trillion Years and Overnight Story" (slow version). And yes, the song is relevant to her character, as you will learn when more of this story unfolds ;) Meanwhile, a different song I've been listening to obsessively while writing this is from the game Digitial: A Love Story, called Space Beacon:**

**www dot youtube dot com/watch?v=VFGFKL20kqA**

**^That is essentially this story's theme song. I love it to death, and it always reminds me of "Hacker Rin" here. Anyways, hope you guys are enjoying this little project and look forward to an update soon!**


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